Highly active PtCo nanoparticles on hierarchically ordered mesoporous carbon support for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

• Published in: Journal of materials science 2021-08, Vol.56 (23), p.13083-13095
• Main Authors: Yang, Yi, Wang, Zhida, Mai, Yilang, Guo, Changqing, Shi, Yan, Tan, Hongyi, Lu, Zhuoxin, Shen, Lisha, Yan, Changfeng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Annealing; Block copolymers; Carbon; Catalysts; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemical Routes to Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Classical Mechanics; Crystallography and Scattering Methods; Durability; Electrolytes; Electrolytic cells; Fuel cell industry; Fuel cells; Materials Science; Nanoparticles; Oxygen reduction reactions; Platinum; Polymer industry; Polymer Sciences; Polymers; Proton exchange membrane fuel cells; Self-assembly; Solid Mechanics; Thermal stability
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-021-06159-8

In this work, PtCo nanoparticles (NPs) on hierarchically ordered mesoporous carbon (PtCo/OMC) are synthesized for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) aiming to improve the activity and durability of the Pt-based catalyst towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Specifically, the OMC is prepared through a solvent evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) method by using a triblock copolymer PEO-PPO-PEO as the structure agent, followed by annealing in the nitrogen atmosphere to decompose the structure agent and to carbonize the carbon precursor. PtCo nanoparticles (NPs) are fabricated with an average diameter of 3.3 nm by H 2 reduction and galvanic replacement in an acid solution, and then are uniformly dispersed onto the OMC via impregnation. The typical mesoporous structure of the OMC enhances the uniformly distribution and thermal stability of the small-sized PtCo NPs. The activity and the durability of the as-prepared PtCo/OMC catalyst are investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and single-cell test. In the electrochemical tests, PtCo/OMC exhibits a high ECSA value of 88.56 m 2 g −1 , and a ECSA retention of 77.5% after 5000 CV cycles. The results show that the PtCo/OMC catalyst is more active and more stable than the commercial-carbon-supported PtCo catalyst (PtCo/XC-72). Graphical abstract PtCo nanoparticles (NPs) on hierarchically ordered mesoporous carbon (PtCo/OMC) are synthesized aiming to improve the activity and stability of the Pt-based catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Due to the natural mesoporous and graphite-carbon nanostructure of the OMC, the as-prepared PtCo/OMC catalyst is more active and more stable than the PtCo NPs on the commercial Vulcan @ XC-72 support (PtCo/XC-72), showing great potential in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs).